Face Off: Blocking, Brooke, and Greed! By-Rob Faiella and Don Hamm Check out ALL our sections and features here!! There is plenty to keep you busy on our main page! Rob: TOPIC 1: Mike Helton says that the blocking is not an issue. Rob: He says, blocking has always been a part of racing and if it starts to have an adverse effect they will look at it, but for now, no problem.... Don: I have been watching or attending Cup races since 1979 and I can assure you that blocking hasn't always existed at Daytona and Talladega. It's not only a problem, it's a major problem causing the destruction on numerous car and the endangerment of great drivers. Rob: I agree. However, the drivers asked for Nascar to put the racing back in their hands with the aero rules. Nascar did it, and the drivers screwed it all up. Maybe Nascar should take it back out of their hands? Some drivers want to go back to the 2001 rules already. Don: My most recent article points this out. I have written many articles about the cars not being stock and the fact that truly stock bodies and smaller engines would put us back to the awesome racing we saw in the eighties. Rob: Dick Kern from Illinois wrote me an e-mail stating this: My solution is threefold. 1 : take off the plate. 2 : lower the rear spoiler about 2". 3 : Mandate a rear gear ratio that would make it possible to run 210mph, but the engine would be turning 9500rpm at that speed. SOLVED.. Plenty of power to get the packs broken up. The lower spoiler would make these cars a real handful in the corners (put the driver back in the equation). The package would produce some real racing and a lot of blown engines until the drivers learned some right foot discipline, but I truly think the racing would be better, and according to the drivers, safer. Don: Exactly. Right now it's a matter of putting the foot to the floor and steering around the track. Take away all the aero crapola and put the driver back in the driver's seat. Make the cars unstable enough that they would have to back off in the corners and drive, rather than steer. Pull the fenders back where the stock counterpart is instead of using them to create downforce. Rob: Speaking of fenders, How did Junior race up thru the pack without a right front fender? Don: Ain't it amazin'? In a way this proves my point. Granted, Junior probably couldn't have led with that gaping hole on the right side, he would have had a decent finish. While not my favorite driver, Junior displayed some awesome abilities with one beat up car. His taking to the grass to avoid problems on pit road, with no brakes, was admirable. Rob: Yes, being a crew member, I applaud Junior for the heads up thinking. The National Association of Pit Crew Members deemed him, Hero of the Week. Any surprises with the finish? Geoffrey Bodine? Sadler? Ward? Don: Ward Burton was not on my list of potential winners. Everyone had written Geoff (I won't call him Geoffrey) off as a has been and I am proud of his performance. Elliott Sadler hasn't impressed me but he was there in second when the likes of Tony Stewart and Dale, Jr. were in the garage. If he'd get out of those dumb Stacker commercials I'd have much more respect for him. Rob: Charlotte is putting together an article on the commercials, so I won't go into that topic. Was I the only one who noticed that Brooke is now a blonde? Don: Brooke gave me a double take and I thought Jeff was fooling around. She is one awesomely beautiful lady and I, for one, can not understand the blonde thing. I saw a couple of articles posted on Jayski that mentioned this and wondered why the supposedly fantastic NBC broadcast team failed to take notice or make comment. To Brooke I would say, don't mess with the blessings that God granted you. Rob: I think she had those blessings enhanced...?? Anyhow..The NBC team is now gone until July. Woohoo! And, just to clarify things for our readers, you didn't see the article "on" Jayski's site, you saw a link to the articles on Jayski's site. This article people are reading now is not part of Jayski's site, although they probably linked from there. Think Ward has a few more wins in him this season?? Don: OK, I should have said linked but you know what I mean. I personally look forward to FOX taking over. I like DW but hope Larry Mac comes down an octave or two. Ward Burton has been one of my favorite drivers for years. I think he has the potential for five wins this year but he isn't a championship contender. Speaking of championships, I get angry when I hear a TV commentator calling Ward Burton the Daytona 500 champion. No, he's not the champion, he's the winner of the Daytona 500. Our champion will be crowned in November. Rob: Aren't you picky.... geez. Ok, final thoughts, besides coolers, spoilers, mirrors and TV coverage, what is the next big topic that needs addressing? Something not being talked about a lot at the moment... Don: The biggest thing that is starting to show up as a future concern is the fact that NA$CAR and I$C seem to have forgotten their roots. With the retirement of Dave Marcis we have witnessed the passing of an era of rugged individualism. The over commercialization of NA$CAR has forced the independents out of our favorite sport and brought in the politically correct pretty boy era. We have lost something special in our independent drivers and the spice and variety they offered. Now we have a bunch of "Me toos" who say nothing negative and tout a racing series that is out pricing itself with the fans and sponsors. We must get back to the grass root basics of the sport as IRL has shown CART. Rob: It was kind of shocking that none of the drivers had a bad thing to say on Sunday. I read a lot of articles today, three on SpeedwayMedia.com all addressing the fact that Nascar.com now charges for Racecast and MRN radio online. I truly see costs rising and Nascar attempting "Pay-per-view" events and the little guy getting forced out. Greed is a terrible thing. The sport is growing, but it doesn't justify the rises in costs for the average fan and his family. Mike Helton is rumored to visit this site... got a short goodnight message for him? Don: My message to Mike Helton is to listen to the drivers and listen to the fans. They are your bread and butter and if you ignore the fans, YOU ARE DEAD. Rob: Don, please clarify your "You are dead" comment. You meant that the sport is dead, or in big trouble, right? Nothing against Mike himself..... Don: Of course I wasn't threatening Mike Helton. I was stating that the sport will die, thus his position, if he doesn't pay attention to us. Rob: Just needed to clarify, so the ITPB lawyers don't have heart failure..... Don: While I hated to see the "Pay Per View" concept of RaceCast the problem here, for once, isn't NA$CAR but Turner Sports. Ted Turner has his billions but is always looking for more. Granted NAZICAR signed the contract with Turner, I don't believe they expected this rip off of the loyal fans of NA$CAR. To top it all off, it doesn't work any better than when it was free. Rob: It didn't work at all Sunday. So, are you ready to do a Fan Forum where we let the readers in to chat with us and discuss topics? Maybe we can start it next week. If anyone would be interested, e-mail Don and I below. Think we can handle them Don?? And, Don: To be sure, we can handle them. All we ask is for reasoned input without profanity or driver bashing. Fans who want to participate in a civil manner are more than welcome to express their views. I truly believe that true fans are open to reasoned discussion. What we should discourage are seminar site pests who want to bash or lionize any given driver. Rob: That should wrap it up. Thanks again Don. And I am looking forward to "Facing off" with the readers next week. Don: Did any of you notice that there were empty seats in the prime seating areas? Was this ticket prices or the cooler ban? Rob: They said it was a sellout. Don: Yeah, right. If you believe that I have some beach front property in Arizona I am looking to dump. Check the main page, I will have an update there soon with the fan forum info. If you are interested, let us know. Thanks and keep reading! you can E-mail both Don and Rob HERE! Check out ALL our sections and features here!! There is plenty to keep you busy on our main page! (Editors Note:The views and opinions of our writers are just that, theirs. If you have comments, write to them. We take no responsibility for their articles... Do you blame us?) Article archives Return to the Main Page